Partial Knee Replacement – My Story

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59-year-old, white female. Otherwise healthy, apart from slightly high cholesterol levels. No previous surgery other than adenoids as a child. Reasonable level of fitness but does need to lose some weight (I can say this as it’s me writing it) but this has become more of an issue since being less mobile and I would now call myself positively chubby!

Brief History – Initial Injury

It all started in June 2024 when I damaged my knee lifting and laying bags of pea gravel in the garden. There was no major fall or bang which obviously caused damage so it was hard for the medical professionals to say what the issue was but I had a stabbing pain all around my knee, focussed mainly at the front and the inner side of my knee joint. There was a little swelling initially but this did not last long and the knee remained a good shape with full movement. There was some strength as well, but not when weight bearing or moving the leg sideways.

I  initially went to the local walk-in centre. They prescribed some strong anti-inflammatory, and I was sent home. I went to A&E a week or two later as the pain was worse but as there was a full range of movement and no swelling, they too sent me away. Another trip to A&E followed with a plea to be sent for an X ray but was told they were not in a position to request one for me. There were no obvious signs of damage to the knee and I could still move it, but the pain was getting worse. By this time it had started to feel like no one was listening to me. The A&E doctor offered me some anti-depressants as he said these would also act as a painkiller. I declined as felt sure something was wrong that needed fixing!

Fast forward to another trip to the doctors for an x ray, several trips to the physiotherapist who gave me exercises to do in an attempt to strengthen my leg, as the x ray had shown some arthritic narrowing then further trips to the doctor to request a CT Scan. This revealed a damaged meniscus (cartilage) and it was in an area where there was no blood supply so would not get better. The scan also showed the weight bearing area of my knee was very thin, which explained why it had given way on me.

Injections were offered a couple of times to help with the pain, but the first doctor I went to told me not to bother as the knee was too far gone. The physio, on referral, talked me into having it done so I went along to doctor number 2 who spent our consultation pretty much talking me out of it too. He went over all of the possible side effects so I went away, once again, not having had the injection.

One final trip to the doctors to request a referral for surgery resulted in another visit to MKATS. From here I was referred to a small hospital near Chesterfield as they had the shortest waiting times. It was a matter of weeks before I got an appointment, which was great and I felt finally that the knee would be sorted out and I would be able to walk again.  From initially damaging my knee to seeing my first consultant was around six months and in that time I had constant pain, could not sleep and could not walk more than 50 odd yards without needing something to lean on. I went into the appointment hopeful that once they knew this, it would be sorted.

The hospital itself was very good. It was private but also took NHS referrals, which I was. I had an x-ray and the results were back quickly and I was talked through the results. It had got worse since my first x-ray and even to my untrained eye, could see the narrowing down one side was more pronounced, which explained the pain.

Now the next bit was soul destroying. The consultant told me that he would not give me a new knee as I was too young and fell in the bracket of people who were not happy with a knee replacement. Only 75% of women under the age of 60 are happy apparently. I did point out that I may be one of those women, but he was not interested. He said I could have a meniscus repair procedure, and I did indeed sign the forms for this to be done. He seemed reluctant to even offer me this though and mumbled something about the NHS may not pay for it. It is now April and I have still not heard from them about this procedure. At this point I felt like a second-class citizen. He said other surgeons would do the surgery, but not him. Would he if I was private I wondered…

I asked what else I could do to help and was told to “cheer up”. I should point that I was close to tears at one point in our meeting, but far from emotional, so felt this was out of line. Being told to get an injection to help with weight loss didn’t make me feel much better either.

There was no talk about alternatives from consultant no 1, so I left the hospital feeling pretty down, but determined to do some research. They say you shouldn’t Google your health but there is a lot out there on knees. I could see myself becoming disabled over the next twelve months and not being able to do my job, drive or look after my family. I found x-rays online that looked like mine and research suggested that I would be suitable for a partial knee replacement. The recovery time for this was much less than for a full knee replacement so it would not impact my life as much, and there was a good chance it would help alleviate my pain.

I live in Derby so there were a couple of obvious options for me: Nuffield or Derby Private Health. The cost of surgery was around £9750 with Derby Private Health, part of the NHS, and around £14000 with Nuffield. The latter do price match but only with other private health providers. I managed to find £225 for an initial consultation with a consultant I chose from a list of them that offered this surgery. I saw him around 10 days from my initial contact and within twenty minutes of our meeting was told I was suitable for a unicompartmental knee replacement. This basically means that they will remove the one damaged side and leave everything else intact, including all of the ligaments. Whether or not the first consultant did these I do not know as I didn’t know about them myself at the time so could not ask him, but he never offered me one. It could be that he didn’t offer them, as they are more specialised so it is definitely worth talking through your options in detail and looking around before you make a decision.

I was told it would be around 8 weeks for surgery, but I called a few days after our initial consult and said I would take a cancellation. The phone went a week or so later when I was at work offering me 23^rd March 2025. I said yes without hesitation as it was getting to the point I could barely walk. I was whisked in on the Sunday morning and was second on their list so was in and out before lunch time. The care I received was excellent in all areas. When I first met my surgeon he filled me with confidence, as did the anaesthetist. I am now in my second week of recovery and looking back, my only regret is that I didn’t do it sooner. I don’t know if the pain will go but it is already less than it was before, and I can walk a little unaided already. The bruises on my leg are angry and it feels heavy and a little tingly as the sensation is slowly coming back to it but it was definitely the right thing for me to do. 

Some things would have good to know in advance, so I thought I would share some of my experiences so if you are going in for something similar, you can be more prepared. My experiences are obviously my own, but our journey will be similar.